MSAT Senior Associate; Tech Transfer

Simtra Bio Pharma Solutions (Simtra) is a world‑class Contract Development Manufacturing Organization, partnering with pharmaceutical and biotech companies to bring their sterile injectable products to market. With facilities in Bloomington, Indiana, US and Halle/Westfalen, Germany, we offer a wide range of delivery systems including pre‑filled syringes, liquid/lyophilized vials, diluents for reconstitution, powder‑filled vials and sterile crystallization.

Our product types include biologics and small molecules, cytotoxics, highly potent compounds, diluents for reconstitution and vaccines – which are all directly injected into patients worldwide. We hold ourselves to the highest quality and regulatory standards.

While our primary focus is cGMP manufacturing, we offer many support services including formulation and development, lyophilization optimization, global regulatory support and secondary packaging.

This role:

The MSAT Senior Associate is part of a team of experienced pharmaceutical professionals responsible for the technical onboarding and process development of new drug product projects s includes designing the process(es) required for the new project. The MSAT Senior Associate will work closely with a cross‑functional group consisting of Program Management, Sales, Supply Chain, Process Validation, Research and Development (R&D), and others, during development and transfer of new projects to Simtra.

This position reports to the Sr. Manager, Technical Transfer.

The responsibilities:

• Lead the onboarding and process development activities & tasks for the manufacture of new drug products, including the supporting development studies.
  • Serve as the lead technical expert among a cross‑functional team
  • Lead the cross‑functional team through technical activities, development studies and clinical and/or PPQ batches
  • Create Technical Transfer documents supporting this goal (Tech. Transfer Plan, Process development studies (i.e. mixing studies, filtration studies, purge studies, etc.), Demonstration batch records, GMP clinical/PPQ master batch record)
  • Heavy participation / co‑lead with Process Validation representative on PPQ strategy and protocol development
  • Lead during hand‑off to the commercial team following PPQ batches
• Provide technical support to daily Manufacturing operations. The position is visible on the Manufacturing floor, resolves issues during manufacturing and leads process improvement activities.
• Conduct deviation (DEV) investigations without assistance, as well as creation, ownership and implementation of Corrective Actions/Preventive Actions (CAPA)
• Change Control Management (CCM) owner and impact assessment
• Ownership of fill volume dosing qualifications (FVOQ)
• Critical evaluation of product impact and responsible for advising if product meets release criteria and regulatory requirements
• Grade A/B gowning qualification. Will enter Grade B areas for Batch support
• Participate in new project reviews to determine acceptable fit at Simtra
• Review Master Batch Records of junior colleagues and provide guidance
• Independently represent Simtra in regulatory, client and internal audits as product/process Subject Matter Expert (SME). Ownership of audit responses and related CAPAs.
• Participate independently in client calls and on‑site visits to discuss and set strategy for projects and issue resolutions
• SOP owner & process SME
• Trained and will perform filter troubleshooting
• Develop and present in‑depth SME courses on pharmaceutical industry topics
• Mentor new hires in MSAT/Technical Services and help with training and onboarding

Required qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in a science or engineering related field.
• Requires in depth knowledge of systems and equipment, including scales, mixing systems and mixing monitoring methods, aseptic formulations, fill volume limit setting, disposable formulation technology, homogeneity testing, control charting, identification and response to trends.
• In-depth expertise in aseptic processing, sterile filtration, and clinical manufacturing and/or Process Validation.
• Five (5) years pharmaceutical manufacturing experience, with a minimum of 3 years of applicable…